Arthur Hayes Ditches ETH for PENDLE, LDO, ENA in Major DeFi Portfolio Pivot

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes makes a bold move—dumping Ethereum for a concentrated bet on DeFi's next wave.

The Rotation is On

Hayes isn't just trimming his ETH position; he's executing a full-scale pivot. The capital is flowing directly into three DeFi heavyweights: PENDLE, LDO, and ENA. This isn't a hedge—it's a conviction play on the infrastructure and yield engines powering the new financial stack.

Decoding the Strategy

The swap signals a deeper thesis. While Ethereum remains the settlement layer, the real alpha might be shifting to the protocols built on top of it. PENDLE for future yield trading, LDO for staking liquidity, and ENA for synthetic dollars represent a targeted trifecta. It’s a bet that the value accrual in the next cycle will happen in the application layer, not just the base chain. A classic case of selling the pickaxe maker to buy the claims of the most productive miners.

The Bigger Picture

Moves like this from a seasoned market architect don't happen in a vacuum. They often precede a broader sector rotation. It challenges the lazy portfolio strategy of just holding the blue-chip asset and pushes the narrative toward specialized, cash-flow-generating protocols. After all, in traditional finance, they call it 'active management' when you're winning and 'reckless gambling' when you're not—crypto just skips the pretense.

The message is clear: the smart money is getting tactical, bypassing the general for the specific. The DeFi summer narrative is evolving from mere participation to strategic capital allocation. Watch where the builders and whales park their funds—sometimes, it's the only alpha that matters.

Hayes’ assets now mainly comprise DeFi and stablecoin tokens

Arthur Hayes didn’t just sell ETH — he also transferred $2.52 million from exchanges into DeFi assets. Now, more than 60% of his portfolio is comprised of DeFi and stablecoins, with ETH holdings taking a backseat.

Specifically, Hayes’ portfolio is most concentrated on PENDLE, with the token accounting for nearly half of the allocation. However, all three DeFi assets, PENDLE, LDO, and ETHFI, are still in a downturn, yet Hayes is holding out for a possible bounce.

So far, his approach has inspired Optimism in DeFi, although his Ethereum selloff has rattled some people. Moreover, Ethereum’s continued inability to reclaim $3,000 is dampening market sentiment.

However, in recent weeks, the network has seen some positives. For instance, Etherscan notes that ethereum processed 2.2 million transactions on Tuesday, setting a new weekly record, with transaction fees significantly lower than their peak in May 2022, which exceeded $200. High Ethereum fees previously caused users to rely on layer 2 networks; however, the number of Ethereum mainnet transactions is increasing, possibly hinting at a return to layer 1. 

Some X users applauded Hayes for the move, but others suggested the trader may have had greater market knowledge, and some criticized him for his position. One X user remarked, “DeFi rotation makes sense given the ETH upgrade delays.” However, he cautioned, “Still, those yields come with a price.”

Ethereum is becoming the global settlement layer

While Ethereum’s price is down, the network is being used increasingly by developers, according to Token Terminal data. During the fourth quarter, 8.7 million smart contracts were created. The analytics firm attributes the growth to RWA tokenization, stablecoin trends, and infrastructure development, saying, “Ethereum is quietly becoming the global settlement layer.”

With layer-1 competitors, such as Solana, chasing high throughput and low fees, Avalanche pursues customizable subnets. Meanwhile, BNB Chain, utilizing exchange-linked liquidity, data shows that Ethereum remains a core part of the digital asset ecosystem.

Researchers at RedStone have even pointed to Ethereum as the “institutional standard” due to its security, liquidity, and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the network continues to anchor the stablecoin market, with more than half of the $307 billion in supply.

The network rolled out two major upgrades this year, which likely helped boost transactions and reduce fees. In May, the Pectra upgrade brought improvements to validators, enhanced staking options, and prepared Ethereum for future scalability features.

On the other hand, Fusaka expanded the gas limit to 60 million and focused on enhancing network efficiency, scalability, and data handling. Over 50% of validators had signaled support in February to increase Ethereum’s block gas limit, boosting transaction capacity per block.

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